Transportation of 6 hydrotreating and hydrocracking reactors by overall weight 5000 t. (2 units in 1300 t., 4 units in 600 t.) for Tuapse Refinery from St. Petersburg on internal waterways of the Russian Federation.

The project of transportation of six units of the reactor equipment for the combined KU-2 installation of Tuapse oil refinery (Hydrofining of diesel fuel, hydrocracking of vacuum gasoil) from 34 workshop of Izhora plants (holding OMZ) in St. Petersburg, to the temporary waterfront structure of the Tuapse refinery (Tuapse) constructed specially for unloading of these reactors on the Black Sea became one of the sign projects in 2012, realized with usage of the barge-towing fleet of JSC VBL.

Cargo parameters:

— 4 reactors in weight 600 t. and length 26 m (every),

— 2 reactors in weight 1300 t., length more than 40 m and diameter more than 6 m (every).

The equipment with such size characteristics has never been transported on internal waterways of the Russian Federation before.

For implementation of this project two pontoon of the project 16801 with loading capacity 2200 t. every were converted under transportation of large-capacity equipment and four tows were used: two river and two sea (for a seсtion Azov-Tuapse). In total it is performed four voyages in length above 2800 km without overloads on a route: St. Petersburg -> Lake Ladoga -> Lake Onega -> the Rybinsk reservoir -> Volga-> VDSK -> Don -> the Sea of Azov -> the Black Sea -> Tuapse.

Loading of the reactor equipment on the mooring of Izhora plants and unloading on the mooring of Tuapse refinery was carried out by the RO-RO method according to the developed project of placement and freight fastening on the barge, and also the unloading project, coordinated with the Sea Register of Navigation.

Taking into account completion dates of production and shipment of reactors from Izhora plants, this transportation was broken into 2 stages: August and November, 2012. Each of stages included simultaneous transportation of line of three reactors: 2 units in 600 t. on one barge and 1 unit in 1300 t. on another. By results of performance of the first stage barges came back to St. Petersburg for loading the second turn of reactors.